Summary

Do you find that Steam Remote Play and Steam Link isnt up to your standards?

There’s an alternative you’ve got the option to try in the form of Moonlight and Sunshine.

What Are Sunshine and Moonlight?

Author holding ROG Ally playing Forza Horizon 4

Sydney Butler / How-To Geek

The Moonlight and Sunshine open-source game streaming combo consists of two apps.

Together, the two present the best open-source alternative toSteam Link.

The two originally offered an open-source alternative toNVIDIAs GameStreamstreaming protocol.

Sunshine executable files listed for download.

But since NVIDIA abandoned GameStream some time ago, the combo is now the best alternative toSteam Remote Play.

I can report that this works perfectly, even on my older Wi-Fi 5 router.

How to Use Moonlight and Sunshine

Setting up these streaming tools is pretty straightforward.

Sunshine installation options.

Lets cover the Sunshine setup procedure first.

The initial step is visiting theSunshine GitHub pageand downloading the appropriate installation package.

I chose the Windows installation file.

After you access Sunshine UI, go to the Configuration tab, find the Sunshine Name option and pick a name for the Sunshine process that will show in Moonlight

Once the installation finishes, Sunshine should automatically launch.

you might find the app in the taskbar notification area.

If it doesnt start, find the app on your PC and launch it.

After you acquire the four-digit PIN from Moonlight, open Sunshine web UI, go to the PIN tab, enter the PIN in the apropriate dialog box and then click the send button

You should now smack the Sunshine icon and then smack the Open Sunshine button.

This will launch the Sunshine web UI.

Now you have to create a username and password to get into the web UI.

Sunshine web UI Applications tab.

Don’t forget to save the credentials; youll need them to use the Sunshine web UI later.

If your surfing app warns you about trying to access an insecure website, ignore the warning.

Once you get into the web UI, go to the Configuration tab and set the hostname.

Sunshine web UI showing a full path to an application, Steam in this case.

This is your PC name, which is shown in the Moonlight client once you install it.

Once youve named your PC, its time to install Moonlight.

Visit theMoonlight website, scroll down until you reach the download section, and download the appropriate version.

Sunshine web UI video options.

Next, install and launch Moonlight.

You will of course need to be on the same wireless data pipe for this to work.

kick off the Sunshine web UI, tap the PIN tab, and enter the provided PIN.

Moonlight game streaming options menu.

Now, it’s possible for you to add game and app shortcuts to Sunshine.

The shortcuts you add will be shown in Moonlight once you nudge the PC icon.

Below is a screenshot showing the path to my Steam executable as an example.

Tips for Best Results

The next step I recommend is visiting theSunshine TutorialsYouTube playlist.

Im also sharing the Sunshine and Moonlight configs Im using for reference.

If possible, you should connect the client gadget youre streaming games to with an Ethernet cable as well.

The same goes for streaming games via aWi-Fi mesh web link or a Wi-Fi extender machine.

They remain my go-to choice for local game streaming.

Give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.